and tired of the usual food they could buy on the street sides of their Gastambide kingdom. All they could eat everyday were the regular fried kwek-kwek, fishballs, eggballs, one-day old chick, burgers and fries with the additional cloying taste.

One of them named Kia, remembered that Queen Serafica once told her about this place called ‘Binondo,’ where there are mouthful of delicious delicacies and other chow that no human could ever resist.

Out of curiosity, hunger and cravings, the princesses decided to temporarily leave their castle and make a voyage to that place.

LOOKING BACK (Historical Richness)

Other delicacies offer by Eng Been Tin Chinese Deli.

Tikoy for you and me.

From their kingdom, the princesses rode a vehicle called jeepney bound tiDivisoria. Then there, they discovered that Binondo is the world’s oldest Chinatown as it was established by the Spaniards in 1594.

Puto cheese, one of the product of Eng Been Tin Chinese Deli .

The name ‘Binondo’ was derived from the archaic Tagalog term ‘binondoc’ which means mountainous (referring to the district’s originally hilly terrain).

They also found out that it was known as the center of trade and commerce for all types of business in the Metropolitan which run by Filipino-Chinese merchants dating back to the Ice Age when tribes from Southern China had reached the Philippines through the land

Mini Almond Cake.

bridges.

During the Spanish period, it was created for the ‘Sangleys’ (Spanish term for the Chinese derived from the Hookien “siong-tay” which literally means “often comes”) and converted Chinese immigrants, across the Pasig River from Intramuros where the Spaniards lived. That was also the time in past when

Dried seafood like Adobong Pusit is also available.

Chinese blood united to the Filipino roots making the Filipino-Chinese (a.k.a. Chinoy/ Tsinoy) the most assimilated Chinese community in Southeast Asia.

FOOD JOURNEY

The three princesses were amused on how the buildings and establishments they were passing by as all of them were designed in

Some of the variety of Chinese noodles they offer.

traditional Chinese architecture which would really make anyone feel that as if you’re in China.

They first stopped in one of the food business of the Eng Been Tin Chinese Deli along Ongpin street, which offers special hopia ube and other flavors like mongo, baboy, and other products like tikoy in variant sizes, colors and shapes; purple yam cake (ube cake); almond cake; Chinese noodles, dried seafoods like adobong pusit, puto, breads and candies with prices range from P9 to P300.

Hopia Ube for you. One of the salesperson volunteered himself to be part of our journey.

With its purple theme, ambient store and most especially good-natured people accompanying every customer with their warm smile, visitors will definitely leave the shop without any bags on their hands.

Seemingly unaware to their next destination, they were still wandering along the Ongpin street, when their sight were captured by the colorful fruits that aren’t usually available in the market such as dragon fruit (the one with some sort of spikes), big version of balimbing, red-colored pears, big red tomatoes and other Chinese-related fruits that they believed to bring luck

The three princesses: Jera, Kia and Ema with one of the salesperson in Eng Been Tin Chinese Deli's Special Hopia Ube store.

and fortune.

While still imagining the uncommon fruits, their eyes were soon enticed to the castaňas vendor as they never seen something similar to their empire. (See pictures)

MORE THAN JUST A FOOD

The clock was ticking so fast as the princesses ran out of time to visit more food establishments and stalls in Binondo.

But even if that was the case, they were

Colorful fruits only available in Binondo streets.

still satisfied to see historical places such as the Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz (the first Filipino saint); the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz; the Binondo Church (San Lorenzo Ruiz Church) where our hero Bonifacio and his wife held their wedding; Santo Cristo de Longos, just on the corner of Onpin and San Nicolas street where a cross is adorned by garlands of Sampaguita and a jar where incense sticks are burned by devotees; the ‘Filipino Chinese Friendship Arch and the Manila-

The vendor cooked the castanas in this black coal or something.

Beijing Friendship bridge.

All of this historical palces made Binondo as one of the living proof of the tight bond between Filipinos and Chinese culture.

REASONSSSSSS TO GO BACK

After the journey, the princesses realized that it is important to know first the place you’ll want to go and not be easy forced by desperation and mere curiosity. They

The Ongpin Street in Binondo, Manila.

researched more about Binondo and they somehow thought that there are some food places they failed to visit like the ‘Shanghai Fried Siopao’ which locaed still along Ongpin Street and offers the best siopao ever made in universe for only P16.

There is also the ‘Wai Ying Fastfod’ along Benavidez Street which serves awesome milk tea (P50), dimsums, Roasted duck congee, mouthwatering Shrimp Chong Fan, Curry beef and Century egg that according to food bloggers will definitely tickle your taste buds.

Jera and Ema in front of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Church.

The Manila-Beijing Friendship post near the bridge along Ongpin street.

Another famous restaurant also along Benavidez Street is ‘Masuki’ which is known for selling the biggest siopao and siomai in Binondo. They also have Beef wanton noodles in big serving for only P55, a not-so-heavy price to satisfy your cravings for tasteful noodles.

And when it comes to dumplings, ‘Tasty Dumplings’ is the place to

Ema and Kia at the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz.

go in Binondo for its flavorful dumplings and they as well offers variety of yummy Chinese noodles like Pork chop

The Santo Cristo de Longos where incense sticks are burned by devotees.

noodles for only P99.

Nevertheless, the princesses were quiet satisfied with their first time food tripping in the kingdom of Binondo. As they went back home to their palace, they left the goody place with yummy treats, happy and satisfied.

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11 Comments:

There were some minor mistakes like typographical errors, choice of words, SV agreement, parallelism, etc. But they were not a lot.

I enjoyed your story because it had a personal feel to it. I just wish you were more graphic in describing it to us. There was a feeling that I was almost being brought to your story but I never got to the point where I felt like I was in Binondo.

A person like me who does not really know Binondo that much because I only visit it once a year would find your article helpful.

Good article but I felt dizzy reading it. Next time, please arrange the pictures properly. I don’t know where is the end of each sentence and each paragraph, where will I continue reading, and where will I start. My goodness! Sorry for the embarrassing expression but although it’s least important, it somehow adds interest to you readers. Don’t hastily put your pictures. Make sure they are in order. Also your title, please choose appropriate title for the article because it seems it’s not really heavenly knowing the risks you could get from eating those street foods. Overall, job well done!

This is a very creative article. You used a different way of presenting your article to your readers. Also, I consider your effort because you, yourself, went to Binondo and see what they have to offer. I think that you could’ve just choose one or two most famous food in Binondo to have it as the center of your article.

What I noticed in your article, though it’s not that important, is that the two princesses were not mentioned. It was only in the caption of your photos. hehe!

You have a very creative mind 🙂 This is a good article, a unique style of writing a feature article. Its really good to know that you really find time to go to Binondo for your article, meaning all the information mentioned above are accurate. However, I suggest that you should not just focus in what Binondo could offer, but you should try to at least discuss their best sellers like tikoy and hopia, and compared it to fish ball or kwek kwek. Because our main focus is about Filipino street foods. But this work is really nice 🙂

It’s good that you focused on a single place in Manila where one can see a lot of street food. However, what you explained there about Binondo and its vast array of delicacies and all, are, for me, not the street foods that is related to our topic. Because you feature the Eng bee Tin, those delicacies they sell are not sold in streets but rather in commercial spaces.
Your grade is 90.

Your article is very creative because you compare your journey to a magical journey with kingdoms and castles. It was nice that you did not just focused on the streetfoods but on the places were it is sold. Congrats 🙂

Very creative especially your topic is not the usual street food. But, I think the main topic of street food is overshadowed by the Binondo-angle story. I suggest to focus on the main topic with Binondo as just a support.